Delivery apparatus for stacking cards or the like in counted batches



May 24, 1932. B Q 1,860,223

DELIVERY APPARATUS FOR STACKING CARDS OR THE LIKE IN COUNTED/BATCHES Filed NOV. 14, 1 2 Sh ts-Sheet 1 FiE.2.

6 Mw I May 24, 1932. A. BINGHAM 1,860,223

DELIv ERY APPARAT US FOR STACKING CARDS OR THE LIKE IN COUNTED BATCHES Filed Nov. 14, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 //V l/E N TOR.

UNITE:

DELIVERY aPreRAr s' ron s mncxme cARDs "on. 'rn n-mxnfiii ooultrnn BA'ronEs n Patented May- 24, 1932 v enmiron Br tannia, nnrrronn, Lonnon, nnennmi.

Application filed meme 1 4, iezasemi No.- slaez'arana in Great Britain December 28, 1937.: 1

p This invention relates to 'delivery apparatus for stacking'sheets, cards or the like in counted batches, and has for its object the provision of meansrforseparating a stack of sheets, cards and the like into groupslof an exact .predetermined nu'mber so thatthey may easily be taken from the machine "and, packedzin batches ready for sale orjuse. j

Thefpresent inventionconsists ofan apparatus for stacking cards or the like into batches wherein a predetermined number of v cardsare automatically moved into. a stacker 1-machine described in U. S, Application Seanda separating blade is automatically held inan inoperative position until after theffinal card of a batch has been moved into position, whereafter the separating-blade is automatically moved to. engage with the underside of'thesaid final card. Although the invention,.hereinbefor-e referred'to is for particular-use in connection with printing machines,- sheet V cutting machinesand packet making machines, never-v theless, the same maybe applied to, any ma-' chine" wherein flat articles are arranged in superimposed relationship, r {I Theinvention will'be'more particularly described with reference to the accompanying drawings which show'the apparatus-applied to a machine for making the shells forslide and shell cartons such for instance as the' rial No. 229,475, and in. which-+- 7 Fig.1 isa side elevation ofa part oi the said machine, showing the stacking mecha nism partly in section. t

ig. 2 a planof Fig. 1, omitting the feeler or detector mechanism. i. V

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the feeler anism. 1 k

Flg. 4 1s a view looklng inthe dlrection'of the arrow A, Fig; 2, s'howing the g n striking mechanism, V

' Fig. 5 is a'dia'grammat'ic view showingthe first movement of the plunger in ajdirectionQ V p "Theinward movementofthe blade (is effected :by the apparatus and in towards the conveyor chain, and i j F igffi isa diagrammatic View showing'the said plunger at the endofthe stroke.

Referring to the drawingszwthe shells; 1'.

formed on the machine"describedinU. S. application Serial No. 229,475 are carried A chain conveyor 6 provided with anum ber of spaced separating blades 7 is mounted 3 from forming mechanism (not shown) ri ed on, aflever and operated by-a cam 46 1 through, the roller47 and; lever 48. Each w shell is in;turn thrust upwardly; into the stacker; 4 by'a 'plate 5 pivoted at 49 to; the

machine frame and lifted upwardly e'achpo time a shell passes on to it alink 5O con-;

through-a1'pair of rollers 42 and 43,.Whichf flattenf'th-eshells, and are then thrust-. into the-bottom of astacker4 by a pusher 44 carhe j nected to a lever 51 pivotedfat 52' and oscila, lated by another lever 53which works incon- 7' The base of the stacker 4 is furnished with,

Above the brushes, the shells are supported themagazine by the blades? and. friction of the sides of as showninpFig. 1' so as to be movable up-= I Same r e-as the shells are .de- V The apparatusis designed to separate livered to the stacker 4.

shells into groups of exactly 100,;and the blades 7 are spaced-,on the chainfi at such a distance apart that the 'tipsgof two consecw i v V proximately equal to thef thickness of '100 1 ,shells. The chain. conveyorfi-is driven by-a I sprocket wheel 8 fixed toa shaft 32'which' v tive blades are separated by a distance apcarries a ratchet wheel 9 operatedbya pawl "10 'in a manner hereinafter described and 5 controlled bya locking pawl; 11;

Theseparation intojcounted batches is e f- ,fected by periodically' pressin the chain'fi inwards at the base o t a and cans o0 I lastshell of a batch"10'0'; the flexibility o fthe-v i ing one of the blades 7 to pass in beneath the chain. 6 permits the separator blades topassf inwards: at the exact time, ir respective of any slight variations in the pitch of the chain.

about to be' described. a H

wheel 9'is mounted asnail cam 12 which con- 5 themanner J n the shaft 32 which 'carries the ratchet a to move inwards so that theen'd ,17 thereof is arrangedto carry a sliding block 14 at the upper end-thereof.

When the snail cam 12 is rotated to such a position that the working face -.15 of the,

lever 13 drops down the profile of the said cam, see Figs. and 6, the movement of'the pivoted'lever 13fpermits' a plunger lever,16

thrusts thechai'n conveyor 6 inwards to cause one of the separator blades/Tito extend bee-1 neath the last sh el'lof' a batch.

The plunger lever :16 is drawninwardly by means of'a spring 18 which acts through a .that the jockey '19 is pivoted to the plunger lever .16' and is in the form" ofa bell-crank lever; One end of the lever carries the jockey sprocket and the other end is connected frame of the machine.

spring 18 pulls the lever 16 inwardsabout its-pivot around the aXis of theshaft 32;

e described pivoted ockey lever19, but-themovement of lever 16 is further 'controlled as hereinafter Referringzto "Fig; 1,. it will be observed through the spring 18 to a fixed point; on the the jockey sprocket acting as a ful'c-run'1.

' lNlien-the nosel17'presses on the inner rim of the chainflthe'j ockey sprocket also-moves inisomewhat as the tension of the-inner chain 3 increases under the pressure of the 11 0 88 17. 7 In -order to ensure that the separator blades are pushed in beneath thestack of shells after an exact predetermined number have passed Q into-the stacker, the movement ofthe plunger lever 16 is controlled by a tripping mecha- "nisrn as illustrated in Figs. 1, 2, 5" and 6-. f The tripping mechanisrncomprises a; pivf j'otedtrip piece 20 and-a lug 21Jinounte'd on" the plunger lever 16.- The pivoted trip piece 20 is} rocked about its pivot by the lifting plate 5 throughthe mediumof an adjusting V :s'crew22 andreturned by a spring22a; I

I I When the plun'gerf 16 is clear-*of 1311600111 veyor B as shownfin Fig. 1, the trippiec'e 20*rises and falls-freely withthe plate;f5.: VVhen the hundredth shello'jt a group .isheing j ffeld' intof th-e stacker the lever 1'3 inoves"infwardly on the drop of-the snail cam 12 and 1 l permits, the plunger leverglfi remove in-ward- "ly 'a' s'rnall" extent under the? action ofthe spring 18; the tension of the chainbein au- "otomatically adjusted by,the jockey-lever 19.

I l'lheinit ial 'movementpf the-plunger 16 'is' ;"arrest'ed by 'the'lug 21 cominginto icontact with the'end oftlletrip 'piece20, due to the *fact that the liftingplateh is then inl'the lowermost position, although the hundredth shell moving ontoplate 5, has 'already'caused 1 xthe'ratchet wheel?) to be operatedand turned, fthefsna'il cam21 softliat lever 1-3 canmove. V iiiwardly. ,As the plate 5 rises carrying the hundredth shell, the plate engages with the l adjusting. screw 22 andmoves-the-end ofth'ef "trippiece 200% of engagementfwith the lug 21, thus" releasing the plunger 16 which snaps The; tensionof the l8'andrthrusts one'of the blades 7 into the inwardlyunder theinfluence of the-spring stacker beneath the hundredth shell as shown in'Fig. 6;. Theblade"? then passes up the F i stacker with-the shells as indicated in Fig.1. In order to ensure that the ratchet count-' ing mechanism only operates when a shell is 1 fed into'the stacker, there'is provided a de tecting deviceor feele'r comprising a roller. 1 I

23mountedona lever24r which-1s fixed to spindle 25' adapted to oscillate'in hearings on Y the bed 2 oftheimaehinep The roller23 ,is raised upon theapproachofeachpusher piece ofjthe conveyor 3' bythe movement of;the"

spindle: 2 5 v which is operated' -iby 'aIlink 26,

one end of theflink being connected to} an being pivoted t0{a-l'ever 28'wliich is loosely niounted'on the spindle25 and provided with a a clutch face; Thefclutch face on the lever eccentric 27 as shown in Flg L-fhe otherend I 28'is'adapted to engagewith"a-corresponding face on a collar 29 -(Fig. 3) whichais allow of some lost-motion betw'een'the respective clutch members.

fixed to the spindle 25,: Each clutch face' conv si'sts-of asingle dog whichlis'proportioned to -As'a shell approaches the'detecting device a in I theclutch lever 28 operated'iby the eccentric rod 26 is in such a position astopermit-the ,t

mentthereo-fisarreste'd bytheshe'll and the roller 23 then runs overthe upper surface'of roller 23 to; drop by gravity until ithe movethe shell until raised by'ithe movementofthe link 26', which movement has-taken up the r lost motion mentioned above just before'the rear-edge ofthe shell passesithe detecting position.

1 -A link 30 also connected to the eccentric 27 j V I has the' opposite-end thereof pivoted to'a ofitheratchetwheelfand carryingthearatchet I driving pawllOz' i lever 31 loosely mounted on' the spindle32 Every time afshel l passes; the detectingipo sit'ion the V motion of eccentric 27.rocks lever '31, through link 30 and theipawllQ movea the ratchet'wheelone tooth, b.ut if afshell is" missing, theroller 23 drops downwardly bee neath the bed leveland causes the link '33 to V V 'bemoved through themediu-mof alever '34" which is fiXed to thespindle25. QThe other end ofthe'lever 33 i spivoted'to a bell crank lever which, when operated, Strikes apin 36 on thepawl 10 and movesjthe same o'ut o f contact with the ratchet wheel 9, V

i Thelspindle 25 andilever' 3t'arecapable of-moving 'when'the roller Q23 drops owing to thefact that the link '26 operates the said described.

th ra fionzof a spring 441" As the corner of the cam 37 slips past the lever 39, the latter is thrust outwards by the spring and strikes the bell and warns the operator, that a further batch of shells is ready for removal. 7

It will beappreciated from the foregoing description that instead of thegcardsbeing detected prior to the same being moved into thestacker, the presence of the samecould be detected after they had been moved into the stacker, for example the roller 23,01 a Y corresponding device, could 'be arranged to engage with a slot formed in the'plate 15 so that if a cardwere present on the plate '5,

the driving pawl 10 would be held in engagement with the ratchet 9, whereasif a card ,were missing, the roller, or corresponding device, would fall into the slot formed in the plate, disengage the pawl from the ratchet 9 and thereby ensure that'a counting operation had not been effected: 1 v. a

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is V 1. In apparatusof the class described, the combination with a stacker, of means for feeding blanks upwardly, one at a time, into said stacker, and mechanism operable after a predetermined number of blanks have beenv fed for separating the blanks so fed; from subsequently fed blanks, said mechanism including means adapted to be interposedbetween the blanks in the stacker and moving continuously with the blanks.

2. In a machine for stacking blanks, the" combinationwith means for feeding blanks separately, of means for collecting the blanks so fed to form a pile; and-meansconstituting a part of the machine adapted to be in-' serted between successive groups of a predetermined number of blanks to separate the same, said means moving continuously with said blanks.

3. In apparatus for stacking blanks, the

combinationwith a stacker, of means for feeding blanks-upwardly into said stacker, and means driven in synchronism with said feeding means so as to move upwardly "with said blanks for separating the blanks into groups of a predetermined number. t 4. In apparatus for stacking blanks, the combination with a stacker, of means for;

feeding blanks upwardly into said stacker, and means driven in synchronism with said feeding means so as to move upwardly with said blanks for separating the blanks into groups of a predetermined number, mecha-, nism for driving said last named means, and means for automatically rendering said mechanism inoperative when no blank is fed.

In a machine for stacking blanks, the combination with means for feeding blanks, separately, of means for collecting the blanks sorfed to form a pile, means adapted to be inserted between successive groups of a predetermined number of blanks toseparate the same, mechanism for effecting insertion of said last namednieaii's',=means controlled by the feeding-of a' blankabysaid first named means for initiating release of'said mechanism',"and means actuated by the blank collecting m'eansfo'r' completing such release.

6. In amachine for stacking blanks, the combination with means for'feedingblanks separately, of means forcollecting the blanks s fed to form a pile, means forqdetecting thefailure ofjsaid' named means toffeed a blank, and 'm'echa'nismfor'separating the 'piled blanks intogroups of a predetermined number, said'me'chanism being controlled by 'thej'jointaction ofthe means for collecting the blanks and said last named means.

lecting the blanksjof mechanism fonseparatin'g the collectedblanks into groups'of a;

7.111 a machine='-for stacking blanks, the" combinatlon with mean-sfor feeding and colpredetermined number, =andfmeans-for deftecting the absence of 'a bl'ank,;said fm'echa nism being controlled theljoint action 1 of-"said'.first-n'amedf means and said lastv v y p named neansuf :1

8; In 2'1'ppaiatus of the class describech' 'th'e combination 'wi'th a stacker, 'ofjmeans for.

feeding blanks upwardly, one at 'a time, intoi I a predetermined number of blankshave been fed for "separating the blanks: so fed from 7 said stacker, and mechanism operable after 7 'subsequently'fed blanks, and means con-'1 trolled by said mechanism for indicating the operation of the latter. r

7 9. In apparatus of the class described, the comb nation with a conveyor for feeding blanks, of amember reciprocabletransversely of the path of movement of said blanks v i and adapted to yieldingly engage each blank,

a counting'mechanism ,controlled'by said member, and means operable by the absence of a blank for engagement by said member for rendering said counting mechanism in- 1 active. a 10.- Inapparatus'of'the class described, the

and "means positively driven to movewith 120, F V i 1.1. apparatus for stacking blanks, the i combination with a stacker, of means for w moving'blanks upwardlywithin'saidstacker, 1 v I said'blank-s and adapted to project between certain of said blanks to separate the latter into groups of a predetermined number.

129111 apparatus for stacking' blanksthe.

combination with astacker of means forin-ffeedingblanks to said stacker-t0 form a pilje, 7 'ascontinuous flexible band driven in'fimed relation to said feedingmeans randprovided" with meansspaced at, intervals thereon and,

in the stacker, an endless band meansfoi" termittentiy advanging a pile; pf blanks JWithadvancing said band in time'd relation with V the movementrofsaid blankgandmeans carnumber. I

' 13. In apparatus of th class dsdrihsid; th combination itha, stacken; of means for adapted toengage betwe en the blanks to sepgrate the latter into grpups of a predetermined"number, and mean's'pperabl'e to deflect said band to cause said last-named means Y to move to blank engaging position. v

14., In apparatus of the class desribed, the combination with meansfor stacking-blanks,

of meansjmoving with'said stacked blanks for separating said jblanksinto groups, #021111 driven in timed relation-t0 said fiis t -named V I means; and mechanism operatively ass0ci.

s ated'with' said cams for effecting cooperation gr v,-

ofsaiddevic'ewith saidgblanks for thdpur}v 1 lpose described,

In testimony whereof I hfeunto afiizi my v signature 1 ARTHURBINGHA s oizzs 

